Blue Devils Announce 2022 Signing Class

DURHAM – Duke head men’s golf coach Jamie Green announced that Daniel Choi, Ethan Evans and William Love have signed their National Letters of Intent to enroll at Duke and compete for the Blue Devils next season.

“Bob Heintz and I are overjoyed with the 2022 class,” said Green. “William, Daniel, and Ethan — individually and collectively — personify exactly what we look for in our team members: maturity, positivity, high-golf IQ, passion for competition, a growth mindset and exceptional time management skills. I look forward to seeing them grow in this next year and can’t wait to get them on campus.”

Choi (Westlake, Texas/Keller High School) signs as the 65th ranked player overall by Golfweek, including 35th in the 2022 class. The Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) has the future Blue Devil ranked 125th overall and 66th in the class with a scoring differential of -3.47.

The son of former PGA Tour golfer KJ Choi, Daniel won the Dragon Fall Cup this past September with rounds of 70 and 66. In August, he placed third at the AJGA KJ Choi Foundation event after posting rounds of 73, 74 and 70. He placed 10th at the Notah Begay III National Championship with rounds of 69, 72 and 73.

“Daniel is one of the most upbeat and fun-loving young men we’ve had the pleasure of recruiting,” said Green. “He has an infectious personality and will be terrific in our team environment because of it. On the course, Daniel plays with a similar kind of joy. It’s also certainly been an asset for Daniel to have grown up around such high level competition with his father having spent decades playing professional golf world-wide and a recent winner on the PGA Champions Tour.”

Evans (Mercer Island., Wash./Mercer Island High School) is currently the top ranked overall player in the state of Washington by JGS, which also has him ranked 42nd nationally and 26th in the class of 2022 with a scoring differential of -4.87. Golfweek ranks Evans as the 44th player overall and 25th in the class of 2022.

An accomplished tournament player, Evans is the two-time reigning winner at the Washington State Junior Championship shooting 8-under par in each of the last two events. In August, he placed fifth at the Pacific Northwest Junior Championship (69, 70) and was the runner-up at the AJGA Justin Thomas event (73, 68, 65).

“Ethan is wise beyond his years and a true student of the game,” said Green. “His trajectory as a player has been significantly upward for years now. Each time we connected with him during the recruiting process, we were impressed. After a while, it was a no-brainer that we would benefit from having him become a Blue Devil — and in return, I’m confident that Duke University and our program can help him continue to blossom.”

Evans is the second Blue Devil in three years to sign from the state of Washington, joining Bellevue native, sophomore Ian Siebers. Former Duke men’s basketball standout and current head coach of the Utah Jazz, Quin Snyder, also attended Mercer Island High School.

Love (Atlanta, Ga./Westminster Academy) signs as the top ranked player in his class in Georgia by JGS and the No. 2 ranked overall player in the state with a scoring differential of -5.34. JGS also has him ranked 17th nationally in the class and 26th overall, while Golfweek has him 16^th and 25th, respectively.

The son of former Duke golfer David Love, William was the co-medalist at the Trojan Invitational in April (64-73), and followed that in August with an 11th-place finish at the AJGA Jackie Burke (71, 70, 73). Last November, Love placed fifth at the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions with four strong rounds of 67, 70, 68 and 70.

“He’s a Blue Devil legacy, but William has certainly blazed his own trail through junior golf and justifiably made a name for himself on the course, in competition,” said Green. “He can produce tremendous club-head speed, and has shown he is plenty comfortable going low. William has become an even more complete player thanks to his improvement with the putter over the last year. His putting prowess coupled with his length off the tee make him an excitingly dangerous competitor.”

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